State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-SD33) has been appointed to the Senate Budget Conference Committee for his second consecutive year, his office announced today.

Lara is currently the only senator from Southern California on the panel.

“I am excited to announce that I have been appointed to serve on the Budget Conference Committee for a second year in a row!” Lara said. “My focus will be on continued fiscal stability, with a special eye toward economic prosperity, educational equity, investing in human capital and providing assistance to our state’s most vulnerable populations.”

California’s Budget Conference Committee mitigates the differences between the House and Senate annual budget proposals before sending the budget back to each legislative body.

Ricardo is joined by other Senate Budget Conference Committee appointees, San Franciso’s Senator and Budget Committee Chair Mark Leno and Sacramento’s Senator and Budget Committee Vice Chair Jim Nielsen.

Lara is also chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.